The Plant Science Bulletin is published four times a year. Change of address should be sent to the Business Manager, Botanical Society of America, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210.

(ISSN 0032-0919)

December 1987 Volume 33 No. 4

HONORS

Professor of Paleobotany David L. Dilcher, Indiana University, is the recipient of the 1987-1988 Tracy M. Sonneborn award. The Sonneborn Award was established in 1985 to honor the Indiana University faculty member who has achieved distinction both as a teacher and as a scholar or artist. In addition to his excellence in the classroom and laboratory, Dilcher has maintained a very active role in the Botanical Society of America where he has served as Program Director, and currently is the Secretary of the Society.

MEETINGS

Symposium - Experimental Embryogenesis

A symposium entitled "Experimental Embryogenesis" will be held on August 16, 1988 at UC Davis as part of the Botanical Society of America program of the Annual AIBS Meeting. Drs. Dan Walker and Michael Christianson have invited platform speakers whose interests range from structural development to molecular controls of development. They are also soliciting contributed papers and posters to accompany the symposium. For more information contact: Dr. Darleen A. DeMason, Botany and Plant Sciences, University of Calfornia, Riverside, CA 92521 (714/787-3580).

Gordon Conference

A Gōrdon Conference on the Cellular and Molecular Biology of the Plant and Fungal Cytoskeleton will be held August 7-12, 1988 at the Proctor Academy in Andover, New Hampshire. Topics to be covered include the organization and biochemistry of microtubules and microfilaments, microtubule- and actin-associated proteins, the molecular biology of tubulin and actin, regulation of cytoskeletal-mediated events, mitosis, and the cytoskeleton in morphogenesis. Contact: Barry A. Palevitz, Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

Tropical Botany Course

For the fourteenth year, Harvard University Summer School, in collaboration with Fairchild Tropical Garden, offers an intensive in-residence graduate level course in tropical botany ("Plants of the Tropics"), centered in Miami Florida at Fairchild Tropical Garden. The course (4 weeks) will be given completely in Miami from June 13-July 9, 1988. The instructor will be P. B. Tomlinson, Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA 01366.

A reasonably extensive training in the botanical sciences and familiarity with the major groups of plants are prerequisites. Students will be chosen according to whether their experience and interests will allow them to benefit from the course and the significance the course may have in their further professional development.

This course is limited to 10 students, with preference given to graduate students. Applicants will be selected on the basis of their previous experience. their academic needs and their ability.

Scholarships for partial tuition and partial
travel support are available for qualified students.

Applications should be made to the Summer School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, but with the earlier dead-line of March 31, 1988 (Environment-al and Field Biology, Department FB, Harvard Summer School, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138). Admission is made on the basis of a Supplementary Application available at the above address.

XXIII International Horticultural Congress

— The International Society for Horticultural Science and the Italian Horticultural Society invite all scientists who are engaged in research, teaching, and public service on horticultural matters and problems to attend the International Horticultural XXIII Congress 190 in Firenze, Italy, August 27-September 1, 1990.

The Congress will be held on the Firenze Congress Center. All horticultural crops from temperate, subtropical and tropical regions will be considered: fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, medicinal plants and species.

The official language will be English. Plenary lectures will be delivered at the opening and closing sessions. Concurrent sessions of contributed papers
will be held in sections, according to commodities or technical subjects. The time allotted will be 10
minutes for each paper, plus 5 minutes for discussion. More extensive presentations can be given in
poster sessions.

The call for papers (second announcement) will be mailed in the first quarter of 1989 to all who have returned the postcard printed with this announcement.

Brief local technique and turistic excursions in and around Firenze will be organized during the Congress.

Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquium

The Sixth Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquium will be held June 3-5, 1988 at the University of Illinois, Urbana. Please contact Tom L. Phillips, 289 Morrill hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801 for further information and registration forms.

Phycological Society of America

The Phycological Society of America will hold its annual meeting PhYCOLOGY 88 on 24-29 July 1988 at the Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California. Asilomar is located on the Pacific Coast along the Monterey Peninsula about 125 miles south of San Francisco. In addition to a full program of oral
presentations and poster sessions, there will be three symposia: Cladistics in Studies of Algal
Evolution; Applied Phycology-Strain Selection and Improvement; Molecular and Cellular Biology of Algae-Selected Tropics. Professor Kenneth Thimann of the University of California at Santa Cruz will offer the Distinguished Lecture on "Creativity in Science" after the banquet. To receive detailed information and forms for registration and housing, write: Dr. Norma J. Lang, Department of Botany, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.

IOPB-1989 Symposium

The title of the International Organization of Plant Biosystematists (IOPB) is "Biological Approaches and Evolutionary Trends in Plants." Subtitles include: "The Biology and Evolution of Weeds," "Molecular Approaches in Plant Biosystematics", "Population Biology and Life history Evolution", Session 1. "Reproductive Biology of Plants", Session 2. "Demography and Life history of Plants". To obtain a preliminary announcement of the symposium, or to present a poster, write to the Chairman of the Symposium, Dr. Shoichi Kawano, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606. Japan.

Membership in IOPB, for the period 1987-1989, is U.S. $20.00 payable to IOPB and sent to Dr. Liv Borgen, Secreary-Treasurer, IOPB, Botanical Garden and Museum, Trondheimsveien 23B, 0562 Oslo 5, Norway.

Items of interest to biosystematists on an
international level may be sent for publication in the IOPB_ Newsletter. The editor is Dr. Krystyna
Urbanska at the address above.

IN MEMORIAM

Peter Timpano (1948-1987)---Phycologists and plant cell biologists were saddened to learn of the untimely death of Dr. Peter Timpano. Dr. Timpano died of liver cancer at his home in Newark, New Jersey on April 24, 1987 at the age of 38.

For all those who knew Peter, perhaps the most acute memory of him will be his professionalism and boundless enthusiasm with which he approached the numerous phycological research topics that consumed so much of his time. Peter began working with the algae while studying at Rutgers - The State University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences in 1971. his interest in the life history of algae developed rapidly while pursuing a Master of Science degree at the University of Kansas. Working with the late Dr. Rufus Thompson, Peter became extremely knowledgeable about the life history of Volvox aureus, the subject of his thesis. After obtaining his M.S. degree in 1977, Peter continued to work with Dr. Thompson. At this point Peter utilized the freshwater phaeophyte Sphacelaria fluviatilis as the object of his research and began to incorporate the techniques of electron microscopy to help answer questions concerning the morphology, life history and senescence of this alga. Peter received the Doctor of Philosphy degree from the University of Kansas in 1980.

Peter mentioned on several occasions that his training with Dr. Thompson was one of the most important experiences of his life, as he was exposed to a vast wealth of forgotten or unreported algae. With his impressive working knowledge of the algae, Peter remained at the University of Kansas as an instructor for an additional year after receiving his Ph.D. in order to study the life history and cell biology of

members of the Trentepohliales. his research with this important group of organisms included collaborative efforts with his friends, Drs. Russell Chapman and Barry Good, and remained a focal point of his interest throughout the remainder of his life.

In 1981 Peter accepted a position as Visiting Assistant Professor at Iowa State University where he began working with his close friend and colleague. Dr. Nina Pearlmutter. Their combined efforts focused on the ultrastructure of Stomatochroon and Chlamydomyxa as well as the taxonomy of the latter genus. Another close associate of Peter's at this time was Dr. Daniel Wujek who had also been a Ph.D. student of Dr. Thompson. Their friendship and collaboration
continued until Peter's death and was responsible for several publications. Dr. Wujek is the current holder of the numerous records and photographs made by Dr. Thompson that Peter faithfully maintained for so many years following Dr. Thompson's death.

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The breadth of Peter's phycological training was readily apparent to all who witnessed one of his presentations. His keen understanding of the algae and electron microscopy was expanded when in 1983 he began working with Dr. Lois Pfiester as a Postdoctoral research associate funded by a National Science Foundation research grant to Dr. Pfiester. Their research on the systematics, ultrastructure and life histories of the dinoflagellates spanned three years and continued to his death. Their collaboration was responsible for six publications and will doubtless produce several in the future as they had a great deal of information in the preparative phase. In the spring of 1986, Peter interviewed at several Universities and Colleges. After numerous discussions with Peter, it was especially evident that he yearned to return to the eastern portion of the country to be with his family. We were all extremely happy to find out that Peter had accepted an Assistant Professor position at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. As he said several times, it would only be a thirty minute drive to work from his house and family in Newark; the best of both worlds.

In the summer of 1986 Peter joined my laboratory so that he and I could determine the structure of the apical pore complex in dinoflagellates. With the help of his other colleagues in my laboratory, we accomplished a great deal more and several joint publications should be generated as a result of our short time together.

During his tenure at Manhattanville College (1986-1987), Peter rose to the challenge of a professional undergraduate teaching environment and did it with distinction. In his short time there, Peter made numerous friends among the faculty in the Department of Biology. He was well respected in the department as a promising researcher who also had the rare ability to teach effectively.

For those of us who know Peter, we realize that few people will ever cross our paths who have the energy, excitement and innate ability to be so professional yet so expressive of their passion for life and knowledge. I am very sorry that science has lost someone with so much talent and potential. A Helyar house Memorial Scholarship Fund at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, has been established in Peter's name.

Harold C. Bold

Professor of botany at the University of Texas at Austin for more than 20 years, died December 18.

Bold, 78, taught at UT from 1957 to 1978, serving as department chairman and chairman of the Division of Biological Sciences. He was also the C. L. Lundell professor of emeritus of botany.

Bold also served as president of the Botanical Society of America and the Phycological Society of America and was editor of the American Journal of Botany.

During his tenure, the UT Graduate School cited him as an outstanding teacher, saying he was "benign but firm, a gentle but rigorous scientist-teacher."

Memorial contributions may be made to Seton Medical Center or to a favorite charity.

MEETINGS

Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting

The Botanical Society of America will hold its annual meeting in 1988 with AIBS on the campus of the University of California-Davis. The dates of the meeting are 14-18 August.

In addition to contributed papers and poster sessions, the following symposia and workshops have been scheduled.

Symposia: Perspectives on plant competition; The role of plant development in plant population biology; Modern methods in botanical microscopy: Experimental embryogenesis; Molecular and genetic organization of plant chromosomes.

Information on registration, housing, fieldtrips and ticketed events will be published in the February issue of BioScience.

Jerry Baskin, Program Director

Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Soybean

The Second Biennial Conference on Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Soybean will be held 25-27 July 1988 at Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011. for information, contact Randy C. Shoemaker, Rm. 7F Curtiss hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (515/294-6233).

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS

Assistant Professor of Biology

The Department of Biology at Hiram College invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position to begin 1 September 1988. A Ph.D. and teaching experience are required. We are looking for a plant scientist with major experience in molecular and cellular biology. Experience in electron microscopy is desirable. Teaching responsibilities include courses in introductory biology, plant
physiology, plant molecular biology, and possibly electron microscopy. Additional responsibilities include academic advising of students, working on committees, and directing undergraduate research projects. Send curriculum vitae, a letter describing your scientific background and interests, three letters of reference, and undergraduate and graduate transcripts to William Laughner, Chair, Biology
Department, Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio 44234 by 1 March 1988. Applications from women and minorities
are encouraged.

Assistant Professor Positions

Two Assistant Professor Positions--Developmental Biology and Molecular Biology. Applications are invited for two nine-month, tenure-track positions beginning 16 August 1988. Applicants must have completed the Ph.D. and, preferably, have postdoctoral research experience. Applicants for the molecular
biology position should have expertise in microbial genetics. Teaching responsibilities will include introductory and upper level courses in the respective disciplines and introductory biology courses. Successful applicants will also be expected to become involved in an existing recombinant genetics program and establish research programs that involve under- graduate and graduate (M.S.) students. Women and
members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

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Submit curriculum vitae with names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three references and statement of research interests to: Developmental Biologist Search Committee or Molecular Biologists Search Committee, Office of Academic Affairs, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green KY 42101. Screening of applicants will begin 15 January 1988. Western Kentucky University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.

Assistant Professorships

The Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, invites applications and nominations for two tenure-track positions, one in population/molecular genetics and the other in environment-al physiology, to be filled at the Assistant Professor level 1 July 1988. Applicants should have postdoctoral research experience and proven research productivity, and should be prepared to develop an independent research program which complements the Department's strengths in ecology and environmental biology. Successful candidates will teach in the undergraduate curriculum and develop an upper division/graduate specialty course. We seek a population geneticist who uses molecular methodology in studies of population dynamics or other ecological processes, and an environmental physiologist who examines physiological mechanisms that underlie responses to environmental variations. Women and minorities are
encouraged to apply. Curriculum vitae, a statement of research plans. reprints and the names and addresses of four references should be submitted by 5 January 1988 to Chairman, Department of Biological Sciences, Box 5640, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011. Northern Arizona University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Postdoctoral Position

A postdoctoral position to work on physiological and morphological aspects of salinity tolerance in taro (Colocasia esculenta) will become available in my laboratory in early 1988. I am looking for some-one with experience in tissue culture and seed germination of taro and/or orchids (in my laboratory the two systems are similar), microscopy (LM, UV, TEM, SEM) and standard physiological procedures. The salary will be approximately $21,948.00 for the first year with possible increments thereafter. At present the position is funded for 2-3 years. Persons interested in the position should send me their Curriculum Vitae list of publications, and reprints of 3-5 papers. They should also arrange for three letters of recommendation. Please send applications to Dr. Joseph Arditti, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92717. Applications should be received by December 1, 1987. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer.

Botanist-Systematic Agrostologist

The Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution. is recruiting for one staff curatorial position. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and have an active research program in floristic and monographic agarostology, preferably with a demonstrated interest in the Neotropics. This background should be documented by publications and field work. Salary will be at the GS-11/12/13 level ($27,172-$38.727). Interested applicants should send a statement of general research goals, curriculum vitae, OPM Standard Form 171 (available on request), names of three references, and a set of reprints to: Smithsonian Institution, Employment Office, Announcement No.
87-590-F, 900 Jefferson Drive SW, Washington. DC 20560. The Smithsonian Institution is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applications must be received
by 31 December 1987.

Plant Sciences Position

The Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, anticipates appointing a new faculty member who has a primary interest in plants and is carrying out innovative research using molecular and genetic tools. We are willing to consider excellent candidates in a wide range of fields; for example, systematics, evolution, developmental biology, cell biology, plant-microbe interactions. The successful candidate will be expected to conduct a vigorous, independent research program and contribute to teaching. Applicants should have postdoctoral research experience and demonstrated ability as creative scientists. While we expect to make the appointment at the assistant professor level, candidates at higher levels will also be considered. Send curriculum vitae, a brief description of research interests and arrange to have three letters of reference from individuals familiar with your work sent to: Dr. Tom Blumenthal, Chairman, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405. Applications received before 15 January 1988 will be assured of consideration. Indiana University is an
Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Plant Ecologist

The Department of Biology at Memphis State University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor to begin Fall 1988 pending funding approval. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in botany or allied area. The successful candidate should have an experimental and field-oriented background in plant ecology and be able to interact with terrestrial and aquatic ecologists. Postdoctoral experience with interests in wetland ecology and/ or community dynamics is desirable. Teaching responsibilities may include courses in general biology, botany, and a graduate course in an area of specialty. A strong commitment to teaching and to the
development of an externally funded research program is imperative. Applicant should send curriculum vitae, a statement of research interests and goals, and three letters of recommendation postmarked on or before January 4, 1988 to: Dr. Neil A. Miller,
Department of Biology, Memphis State University, Memphis, TN 38152. Successful candidate must meet Immigration Reform Act Criteria. An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action University.

Cytogeneticist

The Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at the University of California, Riverside is recruiting for a cytogeneticist at the assistant, associate or full professor level and will have a comparable title in the Agricultural Experiment Station to begin July 1, 1988. A Ph.D. in genetics or related field is required along with a strong background in molecular cytogenetics with experience in plant systems. The successful candidate will be expected to develop a vigorous, innovative, independent research program in basic cytogenetics with applications to plant breeding. Research goals and objectives must be consistent with those of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Potential research areas may include, but are not limited to, molecular biology of plant transposable elements, molecular structure of plant chromosomes, or molecular mechanisms of recombination. One goal might be the application of new molecular technologies to tree crops. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the departmental undergraduate teaching program and to offer an upper division/graduate course in Plant Cytogenetics. He/she must be willing to serve as major professor to graduate students and participate in the graduate program. This position is an eleven-month, tenure-
track appointment in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences and in the Agricultural

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Experiment Station. Send relevant information, including a curriculum vitae, and arrange to have at least three confidential letters of recommendation sent to: Dr. J. G. Waines, Chairman, Search
Committee, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521.
Application deadline is December 10, 1987 or later if a suitable candidate has not been selected. The
University of California, Riverside is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Minorities and
women are encouraged to apply.

Plant Ecologist-Botanical Garden Director

Effective September 1988, the Department of Biology at Georgia Southern has an Assistant Professor, tenure track position for a plant ecologist with training in vascular plant systematics. Candidates should have a commitment to quality teaching and research and be qualified to instruct in General Biology, General Botany, and Human Ecology. A completed Ph.D. is required, and postdoctoral experience is preferred. Up to one half time will be allocated for soliciting support and directing the establishment of a seven acre botanical garden. Send a completed application which must be postmarked by 5 January 1988. An application consists of: 1) a letter of application including brief statements of your personal teaching philosophy, research interests, and botanical garden expertise; 2) transcripts of all work; and 3) a curriculum vitae including the names and addresses of three references (reference letters will later be required from the top candidates). Send to: Botany Search Committee, Department of Biology, Georgia Southern College, Statesboro, CA 30460-8042. Georgia Southern is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and specifically invites and encourages applications from women and minorities.

Doctoral Research Assistantships in Electron Microscopy

As part of a recently funded grant supporting the development of the U.S.L. Electron Microscopy Center, two doctoral level research assistantships will be offered. One or both of these assistantships can be used to support students in the area of botany. The assistantships will be for a four year period with a stipend of $8,500 per academic year. There are no teaching obligations and research assistants are expected to develop research topics that utilize one or more of the modern instrumentation facilities of the U.S.L. EM Center. These facilities include: image analysis, image processing, real-time image enhancement, direct video electron microscopy, high resolution TEM, SEM and STEM, rapid freezing and freeze substitution, complete light microscopy couple to image analysis and enhancement. Research assistants in Botany will have their dissertation research directed by one of the following faculty: Dr. Roy C. Brown (Plant Cell Biology, Plant Cell Motility Systems, Plant Developmental Morphology), Dr. Betty E. Lemmon (Plant Cell Biology, Plant Cell Motility Systems, Evolution of Land Plants), or Dr. Keith R. Roberts (Protist Cell Motility Systems, Evolution of the Flagellar Apparatus, Protist Evolution). Deadline for application is set for April 15, 1988. For further information regarding these research assistantships please write to Dr. Keith R. Roberts, Graduate Coordinator, P.O. Box 42451, Department of Biology, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana, 70504-2451, or phone (318) 231-6755.

Doctoral Fellowships

The Department of Biology at University of South-western Louisiana will offer three doctoral fellow-ships for students entering the doctoral program leading to the Ph.D. in Evolutionary or Environmental Biology. This program begins in August 1988. One or more of these fellowships can be used to support students in the area of botany. Each fellowship has a duration of four years (for students entering with a bachelor's degree alone) or three years (for students entering with a master's degree), and each carries a stipend of $12,000 to $15,000 per year. In addition, each fellow will receive $500 per year for travel to scientific meetings and $2,000 per year for research expenses (in addition to research funds provided by the Department of Biology, the Graduate Student Organization and faculty grants). There are no teaching or other obligations, so Fellows can devote full time to course work and research. Current research in Botany in our department emphasizes Plant Cell Biology (Drs. R. C. Brown, B. E. Lemmon, and K. R. Roberts), Mangrove and Coastal Ecology (Dr. R. Twilley), Paleobotany/Evolution (Dr. M. Zavada), Plant Physiology (Dr. Hasenstein) and Experimental Systematics (Dr. V. Sullivan).

Application deadline is set for April 15, 1988. For further information and application forms, write to Dr. Keith R. Roberts, Graduate Coordinator, P.O. Box 42451, Department of Biology, University of South-western Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana, 70504-2451, or phone (318) 231-6755.

Smithsonian Research Fellowships in History. Art, and Science

The Smithsonian Institution announces its research fellowships for 1988-1989 in the fields of History of Science and Technology, Social and Cultural history, History of Art, Anthropology, Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Materials Analysis.

Smithsonian Fellowships are awarded to support independent research in residence at the Smithsonian in association with the research staff and using the Institution's resources. Predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowship appointments for six to twelve months, senior postdoctoral appointments for three to twelve months and graduate student appointments for ten weeks are awarded. Stipends supporting these awards are: $25,00 per year plus allowances for senior postdoctoral fellows; $19,000 per year plus allowances for postdoctoral fellows; $12,000 per year plus allowances for predoctoral fellows; and $2,500 for graduate students for the ten-week tenure period. Pre-, post- and senior postdoctoral stipends are prorated on a monthly basis for periods less than one year.

Awards are based on merit. Smithsonian fellow-ships are open to all qualified individuals without reference to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or condition of handicap of any applicant. For more information and application forms, please write: Smithsonian Institution, Office of Fellowships and Grants, 7300 L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, D.C. 20560. Please indicate the particular area in which you propose to conduct research and give the dates of degrees received or expected.

Applicants will be doctoral candidates whose work has a field component for which a summer at the Iowa

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station would be especially profitable. Applicants should be at the level of independent investigator. (The 1987 award went to Bridget J. Yale: The Adaptive Significance of Coloniality in Bank Swallows.)

Lakeside Lab is in northwestern Iowa on recent glacial terrain, with adjacent lakes, wetlands, virgin prairie, prairie rivers, and pockets of forest. The lakes country is continuous to the north and the Great Plains to the west. Our own 55 ha
grounds border large and deep West Okoboji Lake, we have forest and manipulable grassland. Conditions:
rustic but not primitive, an air of relaxed intensity, food unbelievable. Research labs are relatively new and we have a small library.

Interested applicants should write the director for more about the area and facilities. An application will contain a cover letter, vitae, and a one or two page synopsis of the proposed project. Specific reasons why our station is so suitable are critical to the application. Two letters are requested,
including one from the research sponsor. Applications will be considered up to April 1, 1988. Send applications to: Richard V. Bovbjerg, Director, Professor of Biology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242.

Graduate Assistantship

The Department of Botany, Iowa State University has available a graduate assistantship in mycology to curate materials in the mycological collection within the Herbarium. An extensive reworking is underway following acquisition of a large number of specimens of historical significance. This two-year position is appropriate for an applicant at the M.S. level. If interested contact Dr. Lois H. Tiffany, 309 Bessey, Department of Botany, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011. Iowa State University is an Affirmative
Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Council of Chairs of Botany/Plant Science Departments/Programs

X987 meeting of the Council of Chairs of Botany/Plant Science Departments/Programs was hosted by the Department of Botany at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, on Saturday, November 7. There were 31 participants at the meeting. The formal sessions included a presentation by Dr. Gordon Uno, Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma. on "Teaching botany through inquiry." The afternoon session entitled "NSF: New opportunities, new obligations" was presented jointly by Drs. James L. Edwards, Program Director, Biological Research
Resources at the National Science Foundation, and James E. Rodman, Program Director, Systematic
Biology, National Science Foundation.

Informal discussion among the chairs centered on topics of mutual interest and concern. One of the suggestions arising from the discussion was the need to take a more pro-active approach in raising the national awareness of the value and contributions of plant science departments as they relate to agriculture and the life sciences in general. A national survey of plant scientists under different administrative structures to assess their numbers and influence was recommended. Of major concern is the declining number of students electing studies in plant sciences and the long-range impact on the agriculture and plant science sectors in the future.

The meeting elected Dr. Ronald C. Coolbaugh, Chair of the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Purdue University, as chairman of the group for 1988. Dr. James R. Rastorfer, Biological Sciences Department, Chicago State University, agreed to serve as secretary for the next year. The 1988 meeting will be scheduled at Purdue University. Interested individuals should contact Dr. Coolbaugh.

Tropical Plant Ecology Symposium Volume

Supplement 1, Volume 35 of the Revista de Biologia Tropical is the proceedings of an international workshop, "Ecologia y Ecofisiologia de Plantas en los Bosques Mesoamericanos," which was held in Costa Rica in 1985. The meeting brought together plant ecologists and ecophysiologists who are working at four neotropical sites: La Selva Biological Station (Costa Rica), Estacion Los Tuxtlas (Mexico), Estacion Chamela (Mexico), and Barro Colorado Island (Panama). The meeting focused on current research in tropical plant demography and ecophysiology, population
genetics, herbivory, and the interfaces among these areas. The workshop volume, edited by D. Clark, R. Dirzo, and N. Fetcher, is in Spanish, with English abstracts. Included are research papers based on the invited talks, panel reports on the current status and needs of the focal research areas, and abstracts of the poster presentations. Copies may be obtained from. Oficina de Difusion Cientifica, Vice-Rectoria de Investigation, Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria, COSTA RICA (U.S. $12.00/copy, sent air mail; $9.00, sent surface mail; send payment as checks or money orders made out to Revista de Biologia Tropical).

Journal of Pollination Biology

At a Special Interest Group Meeting at the XIVth International Botanical Congress in Berlin. July, 1987, the proposal was made to found a new Journal of Pollination Biology; considerable support for this project was expressed both at the Congress and previously, in response to a circular letter. By pure coincidence the initiative started at a Botanical Congress, but we should like to assert that the Journal is to be identified as a vehicle for communication for all biologists with an interest in pollination biology. A representative spectrum of topics relating to pollination biology in its
broadest sense will include, but not be restricted to, floral structure and function, pollinator behaviour and bionomics, phenology, plant-pollinator interrelationships, coadaptation and coevolution, and biotic and abiotic pollen vectors. Emphasis will be
on pollination itself, less so on its consequences (compatibility vs. incompatility, fertilization, etc.) or on its population biological aspects, without, of course, excluding these topics from more general papers.

The journal is proposed to appear regularly. It will include original articles; invited mini-reviews of special topics; book reviews, and an index of current pollination literature; notices of meeting; a forum on current problems in pollination biology; a column for ideas and hypotheses; an agora for exchange of research material and assistance.

In order to assure a high standard of the articles, each manuscript will be submitted for critical evaluation to independent professional referees selected by the Editorial Committee. The
Editorial Board may invite contributions.

Further suggestions by you will be welcome. Furthermore, we would appreciate your listing pollination biologists and others who might be interested and who might not have this circular letter. Your reply before December 1987 will be
appreciated.

Please list further names of persons who might be interested in receiving this circular!

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Request for Assistance

The National Institute for Urban Wildlife is pre-paring a review and critique of practices and approaches to the design, creation, preservation, and management of wildlife corridors and wildlife preserves in urban, suburban, and urbanizing areas. The project also will cover the ecology of such areas, including wildlife use of preserves and corridors of various sizes and habitat types. Persons with publication reprints and/or those with knowledge of the subject area kindly requested to submit reprints to, or to contact, Dr. Lowell W. Adams, National Institute for Urban Wildlife, 10921 Trotting Ridge Way, Columbia, MD 21044 USA (Phone: 301/596-3311).

Darbaker Prize in Phycology

The Committee on the Darbaker Prize of the Botanical Society of America is accepting nominations for the Darbaker Prize in Phycology to be awarded at the annual meeting of the Society in Davis, California in August, 1988. The award is made for meritorious work in the study of microscopical algae. The committee will base its judgment primarily on papers published by the nominee during the last two full calendar years (1986 and 1987). The award is limited to residents of North America and only papers published in the English language will be considered. The value of the prize is approximately $400.

Nominations for the 1988 award, accompanied by a thorough statement of the merits of the case and by reprints of the publications to be considered, must be received by April 1, 1988 by the Chairperson of the Committee Linda E. Graham, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, (608/ 262-2640).

W. Frank Blair Award

The Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute (CDRI) announces the 1988 W. Frank Blair Award competition for excellence in written data presentation. The Institute will make the $350.00 cash award to a student for the best paper, published, pertaining to the natural sciences (including archaeology and anthropology) in the Chihuahuan Desert Region. Undergarduate and graduate students are eligible. All papers must be 7,500 words or less and must be based on original research performed by the author or authors. Entries are to be made prior to October 1, 1988. For the rules of entry write: CDRI, Blair
Award Competition, Box 1334, Alpine, Texas 79831.

1988 Young Botanist Recognition Awards

The Botanical Society of America requests
nominations for the Young Botanist Recognition Program for 1988. The purpose of these awards is to offer individual recognition to outstanding graduating seniors in the plant sciences and to encourage their participation in the Botanical Society of America. Award winners each receive a Certificate of Recognition signed by the President of the Society and forwarded to the nominating faculty member for presentation.

Nominations should document the student's
qualifications for the award and be accompanied by one or more letters of recommendation. Nominations should be sent to Dr. David Dilcher, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 by April 1, 1988.

Tropical Forest

The Colombian Duda rainforest may lose 300,000 ha of virgin forest to a governmental effort of agricultural promotion, on poor soil subject to erosion. Roads are proposed which will endanger the tepuy like mountain in the La Macarena Biological Reserve, a Tertiary biota relict of biogeographical importance. An international campaign to inform the Colombian government of this valuable resource is being coordinated by German Andrade, AA, 101467, Bogota, Colombia.

The FY 1988 foreign appropriations legislation includes sections designed to encourage tropical forest preservation. This is based on a concept from Conservation International, which has agreed to let the Bolivian government preserve 3.7 million acres in exchange for a reduction in its' foreign debt. (2) Coca Cola recently purchased 50,000 acres of tropical woodland in Belize to grow oranges for Minute Maid products. As a consequence, Coca Cola will abandon its large orange plantation in Brazil. Mark Halle, Deputy Director of the conservation for Development Centre of IUCN is analysing the move to determine if the forest destruction can be weighed equally with the revenues the company would bring the country. Environmentalists criticize the project, as the ground is not suitable for orange trees. Coca Cola has assured environmentalists that it will be sensitive to their points, though it has not been willing to discuss the company's plans.

Argentina's Anconquifa area has a high biological diversity due to topography. Threatened by logging and land development, a proposal for a national park is needed. Information can be obtained from Stephan Halloy, Inst. de Botania, Fundacion Miguel Lillo, Tucuman, Argentina.

The New York Rainforest Alliance has been formed, composed of scientists and concerned citizens committed to the conservation of tropical forests. Information can be obtained from Daniel Katz or Ivan Issach, New York Rainforest Alliance, 320 Park Ave., 30th Floor, New York, NY 10022. 212-906-1694 or
718-833-7165.

National Notes

The AIBS Public Responsibilities staff and committee members are seeking support from Congress for a new national grants program in groundwater quality and management. This need is evident as industrial and agricultural growth, as well as groundwater contamination, increase.

The Virginia Natural Areas Registry Program will be expanding to a statewide one, supported by matching funds from the Virginia Environmental Endowment. In the Tidewater River Area, more than 50 landowners have registered their properties. Many have expressed further interest by donating easements or land gifts. Rare plants in these areas are being
surveyed.

Though plant patenting has been possible since 1985, as of April 1987 the US Patent and Trade Office permits the patenting of "nonnaturally occurring, non-human multicellular living organisms, including animals.

Practical Notes

To further the reservation and conservation of plants, a conference was held in May to discuss in vitro techniques applicable to botanic gardens. The text of the conference can be obtained from the Jardin Botanico de Cordoba, Apdo 3048, 14071 Cordoba Spain.

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Australia's endangered plants are being grown using germplasm and in vitro techniques, by the Australian National Botanic Gardens, to provide research and educational material without reducing the wild population.

Reef Notes

The Conservation Education Diving Archeology Museums (CEDAM) is documenting the flora and fauna of the second largest coral reef in the world, the Hol Chan area off of Belize. The Belize government has also recently designated the area as a marine reserve. Costs to run the park will be in part
supported by a book which CEDAM hopes to publish next year. Those interested in joining CEDAM for their
March 1988 expedition to Belize should contact CEDAM.

CORRECTION

Under Conservation news in the last issue of the Plant Science Bulletin the address of the Nature Conservancy-Guanacaste Fund was given as 1735 Mass. Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. 20036. The address should be: 1735 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Occasionally a general description of the versatility of Leonardo da Vinci includes the claim that his botanical work was precocious, but these accounts seldom go beyond mentioning phyllotaxy and floral drawings, both useful in preparing the background for paintings. Today it is conceded that Leonardo's thoughts in many branches of science were ahead of his time, but his ideas were not available when science was developing in the 17th and 18th centuries because they were in unpublished notebooks. Most of the illustrations published in books on da Vinci in the 20th century are of human anatomy and mechanical devices. The plant illustrations included are usually limited to Ornithoglaum, Lilium and Cyperus with perhaps a mention that there are trees behind the "Mona Lisa". Leonardo's contributions to botanical science have never been completely collected and assembled in one unified volume.

For those of us who are not Leonardo Scholars, but are curious as to exactly what the breadth of his botanical investigations were, "Leonardo da Vinci on Plants and Gardens" by William A. Emboden provides a detailed answer, which includes both a description and an analysis of his writing. The author, a professor of Biology at California State University, uses his background in plant taxonomy and physiology to evaluate the botanical science in da Vinci's notebooks. The relevant information is cited, organized chronologically when possible, and
reviewed.

Leonardo's life, botanical library, gardens he was probably familiar with and his garden notes are described extensively. The accuracy of the artists flowers (most identified by Emboden) in drawings and paintings is related to the history of botanical illustration. Examples of Leonardo's use of analogy, i.e. the vascularization of the heart and liver and the germination of a peach seed, are evaluated in terms of their degree of scientificness in that period in botanical history. Emboden presents the artist/
scientists drawings of phyllotaxis plus information on how he investigated the phenomenon. The author distinguishes two periods in da Vinci's botanical work: an earlier period related to painting, and the later which is closer to scientific illustration and reflects an interest in "the nature of plant morphology, physiology, ontogeny and ecology". "His mind turned from the uses of plants and landscapes in depictions to a genuine philosophical inquiry into the Causes of ramification, the bending of boughs, the origin of the bark of a tree, etc." Leonardo's modern understanding of the process of fossilization of leaves and shells is included in the book. Lastly, the fables, based on plant growth, from his notebooks are provided with comments.

The appendices include: the exact sources and locations of the da Vinci manuscripts and codices cited, an index of where in these sources specific illustrations are found, the Latin and common names of the plants in the Medici gardens, and a list of the plants mentioned in the da Vinci notebooks.

The authors stated objective was to extract from Leonardo da Vinci's works "a coherent body of thought which comprises a kind of treatise on plants and gardens." He has succeeded.

Dorothy McMeekin, Department of Natural Science, Michigan State University

Davies, R. A. and Lloyd, K. M., eds. Kew Index for 1986. Names of Seed-bearing Plants, Ferns and Fern Allies at the Rank of Family and Below Published during 1986 with Some Omissions from Earlier Years. Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York. NY 10016, 1987. 195 p. ISBN 0-19-854227-5. Price:
$32.50.

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